Aerospace Systems Engineer

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE As an end-to-end responsive space company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles allow us to service the entire lifecycle of government and commercial missions from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. We utilize carbon composite structures, patented propulsion technologies, and common components across our vehicles to iterate quickly, improve reliability, and deliver payloads at a lower cost. SUMMARY We welcome you to join the Firefly Systems Engineering Team as a Mission Assurance Engineer, to leverage your creative and technical expertise for the development of Firefly launch vehicles, spacecraft, and landers over the product lifecycle from concept through fabrication, test & flight. Your goal will be to establish high confidence in the reliability of our vehicles with a right-sized approach for each program, requiring minimal manual overhead for each mission. You will work with design engineering, manufacturing, integration, test and launch teams to ensure the production of a thoroughly tested, operationally efficient and reliable vehicle that meets system level requirements. The Systems Engineering team is accountable for requirements, interfaces, and test planning; we validate system architectures, manage technical budgets and design configurations, develop test plans, ensure verification of requirements, and support mission operations. You will be expected to be able to speak knowledgeably about current system configuration and provide status updates on performance, changes, schedule, and risks. It will be your job to translate program plans and the engineering teams’ vision into mission success. A successful candidate will be a self-starter, elevate their teammates and be passionate about the space industry. RESPONSIBILITIES To deliver a robust, reliable, and economical product, successfully completing all mission requirements: Innovate Firefly's Mission Assurance process, creating structured flexibility to meet the needs of programs - ranging from Class D Missions to Category 3 Vehicles - applying the appropriate level of rigor. Be a force-enabler for the engineering and operations teams at Firefly by continuously eliminating non-value-added overhead across the organization; identify opportunities for automation and implement it. Empower the Systems Engineering team to support an increasing mission rate with the same level of effort - working directly with the Director of Systems Engineering across all programs. Own traceability between requirements, design data, qualification/acceptance test data, performance capabilities, and as-built records. Work directly with IT and software developers to execute your feature requests for the Firefly tool suite and inter-tool connectivity. Support the Quality Assurance Team and Chief Engineering Office for critical audits and program milestones. Support Root Cause Investigations, by contribution or by leading them directly, as appropriate. Set the standard for actionable, high signal-to-noise ratio analyses that drive progress and continuous improvement. Functional Hazard Analysis (FHA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), etc Probability of failure analysis, Deorbit Analysis, Debris Risk Analysis, Trajectory Analyses, etc Create training and lectures to bring every Systems Engineer and every Subsystem Lead up to your level for mission assurance analyses, and industry standard tailoring. Travel to support off-site testing and launch integration activities, as needed. (~4-6x/ year) Serve as surge support for Launch Vehicle and Spacecraft Systems Engineers and mission operations, by performing functions such as: Become subject matter expert on key program system requirements. Effectively communicate at a technical level across all program disciplines to help guide each team towards compliance. Write, revise, and maintain interface control documents. QUALIFICATIONS Required BS in Aerospace Engineering or related engineering discipline required 5+ years of focused hands-on experience in an interdisciplinary project management or execution role on spacecraft, equivalent work will be considered. Firm comprehension and demonstrated application of first principles in engineering disciplines (orbital mechanics, controls, mechanical, structural dynamics, electrical, mechatronics, materials, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and propulsion). Strong working knowledge of fabrication and assembly methodologies, production management tools, and quality control processes. Experience leading interdisciplinary project teams of including hardware and software engineers. Fundamental software development experience in Python, C++, or equivalent. Strong working knowledge of ASME, MIL, ASTM, and/or NASA Standards, as well as Systems Engineering best practices – able to adapt processes to meet the needs of the team. Exceptional communication (written and verbal), public speaking and presentation skills. Desired Experience through the full lifecycle of a spacecraft mission from SRR to mission operations. Experience tailoring SMC/AFSPCM/91-710/etc equivalent range documents; understanding, documenting and resolving the technical implications and risks associated with the tailoring. Experience developing software solutions, and interface requirements for engineering and production tools. Experience designing spacecraft architectures or critical subsystems for reliability and radiation resiliency. Experienced on Agile Project Management using Atlassian tools (JIRA, confluence, bitbucket) Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options. To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.